The drive up the Number Four Road to Stillwater is one of my favorites and the Stillwater area itself is intriguing. Like many others, I enjoy its beauty, but have very little knowledge of the area. I happened upon some information about Stillwater that I thought I'd share with you. At the present time the primary purpose of the reservoir is flood control for the Black River Valley. However, this wasn't always the case. In 1878 it was originally flooded to allow logs to be floated down to the Beaver River to facilitate the logging industry. At 100% capacity, the Stillwater reservoir holds 3.63 billion cubic feet of water in its 6,700 lake acres. It has 128 acres of shoreline. The current dam was built in 1922 and since that time the reservoir has been managed by the Hudson River-Black River Regulating Authority.
The area has an abundance of wildlife such as the bald eagle, bear, beaver and otter. Stillwater has one of the largest loon populations in the state and the water holds an abundance of small mouth bass, splake, lake trout and yellow perch. I'm sure fishermen are well aware of what a splake is, but for those who are unfamiliar with this species it is a man-created hybrid between two native trout resulting from the fertilization of lake trout eggs with brook trout sperm. The hybrid combines many of the qualities of its parents — including the brook trout's fast growth and the lake trout's large size. During the winter season there are guided six- and eight-hour snowmobile tours.
Observations by Ramona Salmon
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